9 Powerful Steps on How to Be Successful
Want to learn how to be successful? There are no shortcuts. Don’t expect to find a get rich quick scheme. If it was easy, everybody would be successful.
We all have our definition of success, but the battle is the same. Let’s get to the point.
1.Be willing to make sacrifices
“You must be willing to do the things today others won’t do, in order to have the things tomorrow others won’t have.” –Les Brown
This is the most important advice you can get.
I remember at the beginning of a semester, I was all pumped up, have completed all my lectures, and was ready to dominate the class.
I was ready for glory.
The teacher was explaining the concepts, and I had all the answers.
Exactly, I was the annoying student that makes you feel bad about yourself.
Then, as the classes went on, and as I was meeting my comrades, I noticed that only a few of them were actually making their lectures.
They were too busy on Facebook, watching YouTube, and probably all kind of other videos ;).
Slowly, it began to play with my mind and I stopped making the lectures, and just chunked up everything the night of the exam.
After receiving my first exams results, I was devastated.
I had to take a step back and try to figure out what had happened.
Here I was, at the beginning of the semester, all pumped up, aiming at nothing less than an A+ and ended up with average grades.
So, I thought about what happened and promised myself that I won’t get distracted again and that I was going to live through my values.
I started reading all the chapters, and got ahead in all my classes, and ended up with A’s in all of them.
The average grade was around 70%.
I ended up acing the finals and finished with grades between 82 and 90.
Imagine the grades I would have got if I worked that hard from the beginning.
So what did I do better than the average student?
I didn’t get better grades because I was smarter, but because I did what most of them weren’t willing to do, which in this case, was the lectures, and got what most couldn’t get, which was the A’s.
2.Every day is..
The most important day of your life!
Imagine what you could accomplish every day, by living in the present, and taking advantage of every second of your life.
How would you walk? How would you think? What would you do? How would you wake up?
You could be amazed about the things you could accomplish if you lived that way.
Would you procrastinate so much on Facebook instead of doing useful things?
Would you finally take the initiative and start working on the project you have been thinking about?
Positive, because if you’re a rational human being living the most important day of his life, you would take advantage of the present, and would stop delaying your duties.
When the alarm rings, you would throw your blanket, get up, and be ready to dominate the day.
“When you walk up to opportunities door, Don’t knock it..nKick that b*tch in, smile and introduce yourself” – Dwayne Johnson “The Rock”
That’s how determined you got to be.
3.Obstacles equal opportunity
“There are no traffic jams on the extra mile.” – Zig Ziglar
Every time you are working on a project, and finding it hard to the point where you’re thinking about giving up, look at it as an opportunity, and not as an obstacle.
Again, if it was easy, everybody would do it, and if everybody does it, it has no value.
This is why you only get minimum wage working as a cashier at McDonald’s.
So?
When you’re thinking about quitting, tell yourself that someone else, that was doing the exact same thing, and got the exact same obstacle, but decided to give up.
The harder it is, the less traffic there will be at the finish line.
The less traffic, the higher your value.
4.Be allergic to..
Average.
As Eric Thomas said, you don’t pay average people to be phenomenal.
You define your value.
When you work on yourself, and keep getting better at whatever you do, you are getting more valuable.
Most people are unwilling to dedicate themselves to the point of being an authority in their niche, so take advantage.
You have to deeply believe that you can be the authority of your expertise, and work for it by reading books, attending seminars, researching, and studying what the best of your expertise have done to become so great.
5.Motivate yourself every morning
Have you ever watched a motivational video, or read an article, and felt inspired, but forgot all about it a few hours later, and got back to your natural sleepy state?
Well, you’re a normal human being.
Here’s my favorite quote about motivation:
“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” – Zig Ziglar
There is a way to always feel motivated and inspired.
Firstly, my room wall is full of motivational picture quotes, and I read them every morning.
Secondly, I listen to a quick motivational video every morning.
Imagine doing this 365 days in a row.
Then, take action, and find your motivation in every little success you get.
6.Know your destination
Not having a goal is like driving without a destination in mind.
If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.
Goal setting had a tremendous positive impact on my life.
As an example, for college, I would look in the evaluation section of the course plan, and set a major goal for that class.
Then, I would set a goal for each evaluation with the main result in mind.
The conclusion?
Set a big goal, then small ones all aiming step-by-step at the final one.
7.Read
Let’s see what the most influential people of the world are saying about reading.
“When I get a little money, I buy books. If any is left, I buy food and clothes.” — Erasmus
“There is no friend as loyal as a book.” — Ernest Hemingway
Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light. – Vera Nazarian
“Great books help you understand, and they help you feel understood.” – John Green
“If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Do I need to go further?
Here’s some statistics:
- 25% of people haven’t read a single book in the last year.
- 45% of adults are in the lowest 2 levels of literacy.
- Reading frequency drops after age 8.
Scary isn’t it?
With the technology era, it’s only getting worst.
I will sound monstrous, but you should take advantage of this.
Reading great books is getting inside the mind of the most influential and smartest people of the world, which will separate you from the mass.
Find the most influential authors of your field, and read all of their books.
As a popular proverb states; you are what you read.
So if you don’t, what are you?
8.Get over your fears
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” – Nelson Mandela
Have you heard the story of Les Brown, about the man who kept getting chased by a dog?
Every night, after work, a bulldog was chasing that man.
Until one day, he got tired of running away and decided to face the dog.
As he did, he found out that the dog had no teeth.
Moral of the story?
Your fears always seem bigger than they are.
As you face your fears, you will get out of your comfort zone, and you will grow from the experience.
“We don’t grow when things are easy, we grow when we face challenges” – Unknown
9.Persistence
Persistence is the main key to success.
There is no secret, and no get rich quick BS.
“Persistence is the ability to maintain actions regardless of your feelings. You press on even when you feel like quitting. When you work on any big goal your motivation will wax and wane like the waves hitting the shore. Sometimes you’ll feel motivated, sometimes you won’t. But it’s not your motivation that creates results – it’s your action.“ – Unknown
However you feel, keep going forward.
As Albert Einstein stated; “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”
We often start working on something and demand immediate results.
I’m sorry to break your bubble again, but it doesn’t work like that.
If it was the case, everyone would be successful.
Success requires heart, dedication, and continuous actions towards your goals.
So, what now, what’s your excuse for not being successful?
Take action
